What "Austerity"?

Sequesters; continuing resolutions; "spending brakes"; government shutdowns; fiscal restraint..... austerity. For all the ceaseless talk about the "prudent", "responsible" action out of Congress, even if it is a result of the president-proposed, and Congress endorsed automatic spending cuts enacted as a result of the August 2011 debt ceiling fiasco, we have a minor problem identifying just where this so-called spending restraint is manifesting itself. Perhaps that is because we look at the facts, not the propaganda, or the empty rhetoric. Here as the facts: in the year to date period of the past four fiscal years, starting October 1 and going through the current day in March, the current year has seen the issuance of exactly $635 billion in Federal Debt, which as of Friday crossed the "psychological barrier" of $16.7 trillion. This is the second highest cumulative debt issuance in one fiscal year, surpassing both 2010 and 2011, and lower only compared to the $726.7 billion raked up in Fiscal 2012... just after President and Congress swore to cut back on spending following the US downgrade by S&P.

Incidentally, now that the US officially has no debt ceiling, and which despite all the endless bluster out of the GOP may be gone indefinitely, the US has managed to rake up $270 billion in debt in just over one month.

Still think there is a difference between the "democrats" and the "republicans"?

John McCain is very worried about the sequester.....almost freakishly so.

Screw drone strikes in America......if we don't get our rise in spendings back....we're all gonna die. He wishes those weirdo conservatives would get their priorities straight. Spending will set you free.

Austerity, at least in Europe, is where the people pay more taxes and thus earn less and thus spend less (see, austerity!). The government takes the extra money and lavishes it on banks, mostly, sometimes using another country as a proxy.

I understand the larger point made, however it is the prudent, the savers who were hit with austerity first. Those recalcitrant taxpayers how dare they object? Picking their pockets seems an easy scam, but when does that golden pocket become an empty, lint filled metaphor for this re-hipothecated fantasical economy?

hence quantitative easying (reckless money printing) cannot stop. this budget deficit thing is keeping the debt lines alive as well as killing the currency on its way.

this gubbermint machine is always hungry for more money. if you cut its veins, it will cease to exist, government workers will stop being loyal, things will fall apart. but officials in suits would hate to see that, so they tag along.

it's like the flushed water whirling down the drain. it turns and turns but essentially moves into one direction only, and that is down.

Reluctance by developed governments - US, UK, EU - to seriously reduce spending (as opposed to talking about it) is obvious and there for all to see.

What is less obvious is why they continue along this path of stacking up ever more debt, worsening the crises and impoverishing prudent middle class savers and investors.

Are they in such deep denial that they believe sovereign debt levels will just evaporate? Do they believe manna from heaven will appear? Having created unsustainable welfare states, do they fear for their necks if they cut them back? Are they scared of a reduction in the size of state power by reducing spending? Are they secretly planning some action(s) which will essentially nullify their debt levels? In this respect, the options seem to be:- the Big Global Reset, private wealth confiscation on a grand scale (eg forced private purchase of sovereign bonds), hyperinflation or a shooting war. Or all of them. Each one acting as a smokecreen for all the others.

I agree with much of that...but we're wrong to believe the old tale that this/that disaster of government policy was simply caused by stupidity. That's what many of them would have us believe. The political elites are filth but they're not stupid and they do have agendas. Their policies are often articulated in full knowledge of the downside risks (in this case the destruction of middle class savers/investors: "the good guys") but the elites have convinced themselves this is a price worth paying to achieve other benefits which fit their agendas.

I now come to the aspect where I think you're right. Their current dilemma is that the downsides are there for all to see and are getting worse. But the benefits are invisible and in the view of many people, will remain that way. Their stupidity was in expecting the benefits to be apparent by now, thereby justifying the policies. All IMHO :-)

If there was austerity then the U.S. expenditures would be less y.o.y. That's not happening. Meanwhile the state-sponsored media is in full compliance with the directive issued from the almighty, spewing adjectives like "Draconian" and verbs like "slash" in reference to this non-austerity. The "dire consequences for the economy" that they speak of should be attributed to the FED and the oblivious masses who permit their looting.

austerity means war; the oligarchs will unleash the dogs of war; just like they did last time.

You must go to the end of your logic based on historical facts and human mind sets.

To avoid that unacceptable issue for ALL concerned, the US and first world oligarchy is now getting splintered, on national bases; as in club med Europe; and... on a statist vs pure private oligarchy basis, as per CB plays in all of first world.

So now the battle is on between the camp that prints world wide to debase money and starve private wealth accumulated in heist from spreading its toxic disease more and more.

Its inevitable enemy will now be the rich class who are the only ones who can pay the state to recover its past wealth sold down the river by Tarp and Oligarchy heist since five years. This is no vain statement. All you have to do is check the huge wealth transfer that has really occurred since 2008 till today and which will continue in current situation.

The CB plays are now perceived as being the enemy of private wealth, both middle class as upper echelon. (The middle class is toast in either play. That is the current reality of globalisation. Their wealth is unsustainable EXCEPT via rampant protectionism. Both the global Oligarchs who outsource as the Statist oligarchs who tax, have the middle class and pensioners in their financial sights. They are the sacrificial lambs of today's world.)

And....The Oligarchy HFT clique that sucks the teat of these head up ass markets, being the PRIME EXPRESSION of that suicidal trend heading nowhere, will then come under the Statist oligarchy gun.

So either the Oligarchy pulls the rug under this inevitable statist regrouping in first world or it plays ball and gives back some of its wealth to avoid Armageddon and/or depression fall.

the issue facing gvernments is that welfare benefits provide a safety net that is more attractive than working.

it is a structural spending issue.

not only does unemployment mean less taxes and more benefit payments, social engineering also means more taxes redistributed as benefits.

we know that employment is only growing in the part time, low paid segment of the labor force.

if 5 million people in the US got part-time jobs and paid taxes of $5,000 a year (with no topping up of benefits) instead of receiving benefits of $10,000 a year, the fiscal position would improve by $15,000 times 5 million people or just $75 billion a year.

this is out of a deficit of 1.3 trillion

put it another way, employment is not the issue. the US would need to employ 86 million people in the kind of jobs that are being created that pay $5,000 in taxes before the deficits was reduced to zero.

as it is, there are 47 million on food stamps and the economy cannot create the demand for that many part time jobs, so that they can cut each others hair and sell each other pink slime burgers and chicken nuggets.

perhaps the only "kick the can" policy available is massive government spending on infrastructure, but that would mean redeploying pentagon and health care employment in rebuilding roads, railways, telecoms (underground), desalination plants, air scrubbers, electric power points on roads...etc etc

Please consider that those at the top are contained in a bubble of their own making and that they have become self-deluded and self-agrandized psycho/sociopaths with literally god-like powers to affect the weather and total climates through GeoEngineering.

That thought makes this present financial situation meaningless if their next war is against the nature of all things that has allowed for this complicated, seemingly unresolvable world situation. They can simply push the Re-set button for the Northern Hemisphere and pick up the pieces from the somewhat surviving Southern Hemisphere that will insure their continuing surpremency for their forseeable future, with so much less hassle.

Whacko Birds! As said, austerity is not imposed by governments, but by markets. Hard to believe, but there is still a real market out there watching these shit-gyrations, playing them fast and close. The real austerity draws nigh, like lightning flashing from east to west. there will be no place to hide except in the ancient, time tested "relic" which you will not buy. it will buy you, Bitchezs!